What does Ss mean in sickle cell genetics?

• A. The person does not have sickle cell disease
• B. The person is a carrier of sickle cell disease
• C. The person has full blown sickle cell disease
• D. The person is immune to sickle cell disease

Answer: (B)

Having Ss means you carry one sickle allele and one normal allele for the hemoglobin gene. This is a carrier state (sickle cell trait). Disease appears only when you have two copies of the sickle allele (two sickle alleles). So with Ss you usually do not have sickle cell disease, but you can pass the sickle allele to your children. If your partner also carries the sickle allele, there’s a chance some children could inherit two sickle alleles and have the disease; if your partner is normal, about half of the children would be carriers and half would be normal. It is not a form of immunity.